


Sleeping in the Power Sockets

by Uglysweater



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:06:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3879844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uglysweater/pseuds/Uglysweater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times the babies fell asleep and one time they did not</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping in the Power Sockets

It still feels like summer in Cabeswater. Although in the rest of Henrietta Virginia the trees have begun to shift in color and a chill blows through the air, the trees here remain bright and the air still warm. It’s making Blue Sargent very sleepy. She thought it was a good idea to accompany Richard Campbell Gansey the Third to the weird forest where time didn’t matter. That’s a lie, Blue knew from the start it would be a not good idea. Hanging around Gansey was a pretty bad idea at all times, but especially here in Cabeswater. The ley line it sits on has been growing more powerful by the day, and that power doesn’t seem to like being poked at. If something happened here there would be no one here with power to help, the dreamer and magician elsewhere on this particular day. 

She glanced over to where he was wandering around the clearing holding a emf or evp or mvp reader. He wanted to get readings off the trees after the incident in the cave. When he noticed her looking he broke out into a wide grin. “Jane! Look at these readings. They’re off the charts! Wait wait, look at this.” He flips the device over to show her an empty battery case, “Look. No batteries. I forgot to bring extra’s but its still running. This is incredible. And it gets stronger the closer I walk to the mouth of the cave. Absolutely fascinating.”

She nods along to his explanation, and finds herself grinning back. His enthusiasm was addictive. Being here with Gansey was a bad idea in more ways than one. Besides the threat from the forest, there was the threat Blue herself presented. The more time Blue spent with Gansey the more she wanted to spend time with him again. And they didn’t have much time left. 

The sun was high in the sky and far too warm for the sweater Blue had put on that morning. She took it off and rolled her eyes when Gansey dropped his very expensive device on the forest floor. Blue balled up her sweater and laid back on it. Very quickly the flashing of the sun through the leaves lulled her to sleep. 

It felt good to fall out of the inevitability of reality for a moment. Her muscles relaxed and her head heavy sleep carried Blue through endless possibilities. When her eyes were open there was only ever one end to this year. An end she didn’t choose. An end handed to her since birth. Sleep was chaotic, uncertain. And although it came less and less frequently now, Blue found agency in the chaos. 

Something shook Blue from sleep. Gansey stood over her, a deep crease of concern between his brows.  
“Blue? Are you alright.” He asked when she blinked her eyes open. 

“Yeah Why wouldn’t I be?” Blue moved up to prop herself on her elbows. He smiled at her. She smiled at him. For a moment she let it stand as is, no pressure of things to come, just a smile. 

**\----——————---------——————--------**

Ronan always sat in the front seat. He’s never needed to call shotgun. Its just always been his spot. His space. And he’s going to lose it soon. 

Ronan glances in the rearview mirror at the would be usurper in the back. Blue Sargent is talking animatedly to Noah beside her. Gansey, beside Ronan as it should be, is smiling at the road in front of him. Both are acting like they weren’t just holding hands in secret, hidden on the left side of Gansey’s driver seat. 

Ronan grits his teeth. Eventually Gansey’s going to ask him to let Blue sit up front. Ronan doesn’t know if he’ll be able to pretend thats okay with him honestly. And Ronan Lynch does not lie. Would Gansey kick him out of Monmouth just to get laid? Where would he go then?

The thing of it is, Ronan knows exactly where he’d go. Ronan finds Adam in the rear view mirror. The other boys eyes are closed and his expression is relaxed. His chest rising and falling in the slow deep breaths of sleep and Ronan can see micro movements beneath his eyelids. The openness of Adam's face makes something in Ronan's chest seize up. 

Adam so rarely lets himself relax, especially in the presence of others. Even though Ronan spends many rights on the hardwood floor of St Agnes, he suspects most of that time is spent feigning sleep for each other's benefit rather than actually finding rest. 

Would it actually be so bad to sit back there? He could easily work it out so he and Adam sat next to each other instead of having Noah between them. He'd be close enough to touch the wisps of hair training down the back of Adam's neck. It wouldn't be odd, if they were sitting that close, to accidentally brush fingers. He'd feel Adam lean into him whenever Gansey took a sharp turn. 

The pig hit a pothole and Adam jerked awake with a sharp inhale. Ronan should really look away now. Adam blinks slowly and then he finds Ronan's eyes in the mirror. They hold each other's gaze for a moment before Adam gives him a small smile and Ronan has to look down. 

**\----——————---------——————--------**

Adam's attention is drawn away from his homework with a sharp knock at his door. It's not loud bang he's come to expect from any regular visitors but the knock is insistent. 

On the other side of the door stands Gansey. His eyes dart behind Adam to scan the room frantically before returning to Adam. 

Adam's about to ask what's wrong but the question dies on his lips as Gansey tells him "I can't find Ronan." 

"What do you mean you can't find him? We saw him only a few hours ago." They had all gathered at 300 fox way to go over strategy as their quest gets more and more dangerous. Adam left early to go to work knowing the others would probably just go to Ninos without him. 

"Right. And now he's not answering his phone." 

That in itself isn't unusual. It typically takes ten attempts to get Ronan to pick up. But Gansey seams panicked. "Did something happen?" 

"No! I just. Lost track of him." Adam pins him with a look until Gansey says "I was with Jane. Looking at some books her mother has. Noah and Ronan were going to go home but Noah says he left alone. The BMW is still at home so there's no way he's at The Barns. I thought he would be here. He's always here when he's- . He's always here." 

For a moment Adam thinks Gansey knows about how often Ronan has stayed here, in his apartment. Then he realizes Gansey means the church itself. Ronan's go to place for drinking and wallowing. If he's not downstairs Adam doesn't know where he'd be. 

"I'm sorry to bother you Adam but you haven't heard from him have you?" Adam shakes his head and Gansey slumps. 

"Let's retrace our steps. The last place anyone saw him was Blue's house, right? Maybe Calla finally killed him." Gansey nods. Adam’s a little worried, any other day Ronan would be here. Often he’s waiting at the foot of the stairs for Adam to get home. But of course if something was really bothering Ronan he wouldn’t have come to Adam. Adam is a distraction, entertainment. He’s not the person Ronan comes to talk through things. Thats Gansey or God. Something like jealousy and guilt worm their way into Adam’s chest. 

Gansey drives them back to 300 Fox Way and Blue meets them out front, “Noah hasn’t seen him yet. I told him to stay at Monmouth incase he goes there first.”

Gansey nods and leads the way inside. Gwenllian is sitting at the kitchen table. She has dozens of Orla’s nail polish bottles out, painting swirls and spirals onto the wood table. She’s got a rather large net on her head. She looks at Gansey and cackles. 

“You’ve lost your raven prince.” She tells him. Adam can’t tell if she’s put a comma between the last two words and it makes Adam nauseous with nerves. She continues, “He’s here and not. He hasn’t left to go far away.” 

Gwenllian breaks off into song as Orla strolls in. She swipes her nail polish off the table into a box. “He’s in the living room.”

It’s chaos as the three of them try to scramble through the narrow hallway to get to the living room. Gansey stops short at what he sees, causing Blue to run into his back and Adam to run into her. Adam panics for a moment, what horrible thing could be in there. What new tragedy will haunt the Lynch family. Until finally Gansey says "You must be joking." 

Adam peers over his shoulder. And there's Ronan Lynch. Exactly the same as Adam saw him last on the couch. Except now he's horizontal and asleep. Gansey enters further, grabs a pillow and moves to smack Ronan with it. Blue reaches out and holds him steady. 

"Gansey stop." She says and he lowers his arm. "When does Ronan sleep? Never, right? Let him have this. Maybe he won't be such a viper if he takes more naps." 

"Kind and wise Jane. You're undefeatable." They're probably smiling at each other but Adam's not looking at them. He's fixated on the sleeping boy in front of him. Ronans eyelashes are soft against his cheeks and his mouth is parted slightly. There's no tension in his jaw. It's the smoothest the sharp edges of Ronan Lynch has ever looked. He looks almost touchable. Something real. 

Adam wonders what he's dreaming about. 

"Come on Adam, Jane's right. We should let him sleep." Gansey says from behind him. Adam can't pull his gaze away yet but he says "Yeah, sure." 

**\----——————---------——————--------**

Noah doesn't sleep. He hasn't slept in over 7 years. 

He used to love it. He loved waking up late on weekends. He loved setting up his pillows and blankets to optimize comfort. He loved afternoon naps in the sun. He used to love a lot of things. 

He loved sleeping with people too. Not sex, just sleeping near someone else's warmth. Near another warm body. Noah wasn't warm anymore. 

He likes living with people though. Being around other people sleeping is almost as good. He can almost remember what it feels like. His roommates, however, do it rarely and inconsistently. 

Ronan slams into Monmouth Manufacturing after school. Noah can't tell if he's mad. He's probably not. Ronan slams where most people simply enter. He's followed a short while later by Blue, Gansey, and Adam. Blue's wearing sparkly clips in her short hair. He wants to touch them. 

Ronan has disappeared into his room, door slammed of course, leaving the other three and one ghost. Noah sits on Gansey's bed and Blue joins him. Close enough that he can begin unclipping her hair. Adam and Gansey gather on the floor around a book. Noah isn't paying much attention to what they're saying, too invested in the way the setting sun plays off the glitter on Blue's clips. 

Ronan returns, with a slam, dragging his mattress on the floor behind him. He nods his chin towards Gansey's bed, "Pull that shit to the floor." 

"Are you insane?" Blue asks. Her hair is really soft. 

"Up for debate." Ronan tells her, yanking his mattress across the dirty wood floor "But I saw Parrish nearly pass out at lunch and Dick had his eyes closed for like half of Latin today. Pull the fucking mattress to the floor we won't all fit on this one." Noah hops up but he knows he won't be much help so he goes to stand by Ronan and the first mattress. 

Once both mattresses are on the floor Noah watches them all flop down. He feels like he might blip out soon. He feels faded. He feels half there. He's not jealous of their simple comfort of presence and sleep, but he's not sure he's actually capable of feeling jealousy anymore. 

"Noah" His lines firm up and he sees Blue looking at him, "Come lay down. It's too warm, I need you." 

Noah smiles and lays down amongst them. 

**\----——————---------——————--------**

Gansey found himself yawning for the third time in the past twenty minutes. He has a meeting with his senior advisor at the end of the period and frankly he does not want to go. 

Gansey's not sure he even wants to go to college right now. He's supposed to. He's legacy at Yale and Georgetown scoped him out back when he rowed crew. Gansey's been told he's destined for great things, he's just not sure college is that great thing. God forbid his mother hear him say that. 

Maybe he'll ask Blue to go backpacking with him across Europe. Or maybe South America. Maybe they'll all go. It'll be interesting trying to bring Noah but-

"Richard." Gansey starts and turns around. 

"Doctor Morris, how are you?" 

"Fine just fine. What about you, Old Boy? I've been calling you for five minute. You haven't heard?" 

"No sir, I apologize. Lost in thought." Gansey shrugs. 

The older man considers him. "Well, we can head in my office now." 

Gansey follows him through the old mahogany doors and sits opposite him. The meeting begins,continues, and ends without Gansey really needing to be there. Morris just rattled off offers of scholarships, programs, tuition, and prestige. Gansey nods at the right times. 

"Well sport, let's set a time to meet again at the end of the semester, once you've decided where you want to go. We'll see what we can do about keeping you out of those disgusting freshman dorms" 

Gansey nods again and as he turns to leave Morris catches his attention one last time, "Try to get some sleep Gansey, you look exhausted." 

Gansey nods politely one last time and turns to go. What was that things the kids said? I'll sleep when I'm dead? Yeah, I'll sleep when I'm dead.


End file.
